Second-half strikes lift Partizan

FK Partizan saw off a spirited challenge from Romanian side FC Dinamo Bucuresti in Belgrade, reversing a first-half deficit with three goals after the break to wrap up a comfortable UEFA Cup first round first-leg triumph.

Unlikely result
Partizan struggled to get to grips with their visitors in an closely contested opening period, in which Dinamo went ahead through Ionel Danciulescu. But they emerged from the dressing room determined to make home advantage tell and goals from Ivan Tomic, Pierre Boya and Nenad Brnovic made for a convincing win which had not looked on before the interval.

Top corner
The hosts attacked purposefully during the opening exchanges but Danciulescu offered a warning of what was to follow as early as the tenth minute. His header forced goalkeeper Ivica Kralj to make a smart save following an incisive pass from Constantin Semeghin. The same shot-stopper was unable to block Danciulescu’s next effort 14 minutes later. The striker found the top corner of the net after collecting Iomut Balan’s raking ball.

Tomic equaliser
The home team’s first effort did not arrive until just past the half-hour mark - when Milivoje Cirkovic shot from distance - and soon after Partizan should have levelled from the penalty spot only to see Tomic screw his shot wide of the post.

Different side
Partizan were nevertheless a different side in the second period and Tomic made amends for his miss when he rifled a close-range effort past goalkeeper Vladzimir Hayeu after a succession of rebounds. Dinamo then conceded possession from the re-start and the hosts suddenly found themselves in a position to capitalise, Boya arrowing in from just outside the box to put the home side in front.

Matter of time
Now firmly in the ascendancy, it was only a matter of time before another goal – and after numerous efforts went extremely close, substitute Brnovic’s long-range strike went in off the post to round off the scoring. The Serbo-Montenegrin team, however, will need to improve on their first-half performance when they travel to Romania for the return leg on 30 September.